Nanomedicine has offered new hope for cancer treatment.[1] Nanotherapeutics exhibit many advantages over small-molecule chemotherapeutics, including diminished systemic toxicity and improved circulation times. Unfortunately, non-uniformly leaky vasculature[2] and a dense interstitial structure[3] hinder their effective delivery to tumors.[4] These physiological abnormalities make transvascular transport—movement from vessels to the interstitium—and interstitial transport—movement through the interstitium to target cells—heterogeneous.[4a] Hence the tumor microenvironment limits the uniform penetration of nanotherapeutics by slowing or halting their transport through hydrodynamic and steric hindrance.[2a,3a,5] Overcoming these physiological barriers in tumors is an outstanding challenge for nanomedicine.

Fluorescent Nanorods and Nanospheres for Real-Time In Vivo Probing of Nanoparticle Shape-Dependent Tumor Penetration

Self-assembled peptide and protein nanostructures for anti-cancer therapy: Targeted delivery, stimuli-responsive devices and immunotherapy.

Cellulose nanomaterials, often called nanocellulose, have created a lot of buzz as a renewable building block for new materials such as nanocomposites, aerogels and hydrogels to be used in many different areas such as packaging, batteries, environmental applications, sensors and food supplements. In the biomedical field, cellulose-based nanomaterials have widely been employed in tissue engineering, diagnostics, drug delivery and wound healing. The area of drug delivery has already been reviewed earlier focusing on cellulose-based formulations including nanoparticles, tablets, hydrogels, and aerogels. In this review, we discuss the use of soluble cellulose nanomaterials that can be used for intravenous (i.v.) administration. Cellulose nanomaterials are attractive carriers for this field as they naturally have a non-spherical shape. This review summarizes the recent advancements in the use of individual cellulose nanomaterials that can be modified with therapeutic agents or targeting ligands as drug delivery systems. To achieve this aim, surface modification is a quintessential step to generate water-soluble individual cellulose nanoparticles to ensure high solubility in blood serum and good protein repellency. The main focus of this review is to provide a summary of surface modification techniques ranging from the covalent attachment of small molecules to the grafting of polymers. We then introduce techniques to immobilize drug molecules onto the surface of cellulose nanomaterials before concluding with a future outlook.

Surface modified cellulose nanomaterials: a source of non-spherical nanoparticles for drug delivery

Carrier-free nanodrugs with efficient drug delivery and release for cancer therapy: From intrinsic physicochemical properties to external modification.

Nanoparticles are of great importance in development and research because of their application in industries and biomedicine. The development of nanoparticles requires proper knowledge of their fabrication, interaction, release, distribution, target, compatibility, and functions. This review presents a comprehensive update on nanoparticles' toxic effects, the factors underlying their toxicity, and the mechanisms by which toxicity is induced. Recent studies have found that nanoparticles may cause serious health effects when exposed to the body through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact without caution. The extent to which toxicity is induced depends on some properties, including the nature and size of the nanoparticle, the surface area, shape, aspect ratio, surface coating, crystallinity, dissolution, and agglomeration. In all, the general mechanisms by which it causes toxicity lie on its capability to initiate the formation of reactive species, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and neurotoxicity, among others.

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Toxicity of Nanoparticles in Biomedical Application: Nanotoxicology.

Recent studies have revealed the effects of shape on in vivo nanoparticle circulation, distribution, extravasation, and cellular uptake. Morphology is therefore becoming a key factor to be considered in the rational design of nanoparticulate systems for specific biomedical applications such as targeted drug delivery. Technologies for reliable and scalable fabrication of shape-specific micro- and nanoparticles are emerging, which will allow further investigations into this crucial parameter that is poised to substantially impact nanomedicine.

Chau Vo

Papers

Non-spherical micro- and nanoparticles in nanomedicine